At age 51 and with 44 wins across 20 different countries in nearly 800 professional starts, there’s not much left that Lee Westwood hasn’t experienced in golf. But at this week’s U.S. Senior Open, he’s a newbie again as he makes his first senior start.
“I don’t know what to expect,” the Majesticks GC co-captain said. “I’m a rookie, aren’t I? Turning up, seeing what it’s all about.”
Westwood is one of 52 players in the field at Newport Country Club playing their first U.S. Senior Open. Also in the group is Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland, who made his senior debut last month by winning the Senior PGA Championship.
Of course, Westwood would love to make a similar successful debut as his fellow Englishman. Given that he comes off his best LIV Golf result – a tie for third at LIV Golf Nashville in which he shot rounds of 69-66-66 to finish at 12 under – he’s now trending up after a 2024 season in which he has struggled for results.
“I started to swing well, and my whole game was coming together when I played at LIV Houston three weeks ago,” Westwood said during a Tuesday press conference in Rhode Island. “Then I went home and did a little bit of work on it. I probably haven’t been working as hard on my game as I would have liked to, but I put in a bit more work in the week off.
“I went to Nashville and carried on really with that theme, those swing thoughts. Putted well last week. I sharpened my short game up because I’ve been playing more, and my game is in a really good place. … Played well on the final day, which was good. I haven’t been finishing tournaments off, so fun for the last four holes and finish that tournament off strongly has given me a lot of confidence going into this week.”
Westwood turned 50 in April of last year. He looked into playing some of the senior majors in which he had eligibility but could not fit it into his schedule, which included the 14 tournaments of LIV Golf’s first full league season.
He’s glad it worked out this week, and he hopes moving forward to participate in more.
“The consensus of opinion of everybody that I talked to said it’s great to see myself and Richard playing here,” Westwood said. “I think, when you look at the U.S. Open two weeks ago or the Masters or the PGA Championship, people are happy to see Bryson [DeChambeau] or Cam [Smith] or Jon Rahm coming and playing in those big events.
“It’s basically getting all the best players together in one tournament to compete against each other, and that’s what you want at the highest level. You want all the best players there.”
He said it’s especially important for the fans who have made connections with the familiar names competing at the senior level.
“The Champions Tour for me is important because people have watched myself play and other guys out here play for the last 30, 40 years, and they build relationships with those players and they’ve seen us grow as players and people,” Westwood said
“Yes, people want to see the youngsters, the new guys on the block coming through and contending, but they also want to see the guys they’ve made a bond with over the last 30, 40 years. Because, from what I’ve seen, watching a bit of the tournament last week, Padraig [Harrington] is still playing some great golf and it’s entertaining. At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment industry.
“It’s nice that the USGA and PGA of America and the R&A are trying to find a way to get everybody together more often.”
Renewing acquaintances with old rivals is also a benefit. Westwood is paired with Spain’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez and American Jerry Kelly for the first two rounds. Each of his playing partners have won two senior majors and more than 10 senior tournaments.
Meanwhile, he’s run into other people whom he hasn’t seen since his amateur days.
“I recognized some faces, and then they introduced themselves, and I’m like, wow, yeah, it’s been 35 years,” Westwood said. “It’s been nice. I’ve enjoyed it.”
Image: LIV Golf
